Moorpark Overwhelms Canyons

Damian Wilson of Moorpark College shot the lights out Tuesday night, and at College of the Canyons’ “Cougar Cage” that is virtually a public service.

The dim yet obnoxious lighting in Canyons’ gym creates a purple penumbra that makes athletes look like they have witnessed an atom bomb blast or spent too much time at Prince concerts.

But Moorpark’s Wilson tossed in a purple rain of baskets, making 13 of 17 shots from the field and scoring a game-high 33 points in Moorpark’s 107-86 Western State Conference interdivision victory.

Sam Crawford of Moorpark cut through the purple haze with a school single-game record of 20 assists and contributed 19 points.

“He is probably the best guard we’ve seen this year,” Canyons Coach Lee Smelser said of Crawford. “The last (comparable) one I can remember is Pookie (Wigington, a former Ventura and Seton Hall standout) in this league.”

Not since Alice Walker, though, has anyone worked as well as Wilson with the color purple.

“That’s the best he’s played since before Christmas,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said.

Wilson shed the wrap he has been wearing on his injured left hand and overcame other obstacles as well. Nordquist said the ball was so well inflated it felt “like a rock,” and Wilson claimed Moorpark’s second-half rim was off-kilter, forcing him to shoot from the low side.

“It was tilted to the right side. I didn’t notice it until we started playing at this end,” Wilson said.

The rim did not stop Canyons (8-11) early, when the Cougars built a 12-10 lead. Moorpark, however, answered with a 17-0 run and led, 46-36, at halftime.

Moorpark (18-3) outscored Canyons, 13-4, after the intermission and quickly turned the game into a blowout. “This is the worst we’ve been whipped in a long time,” Smelser said.

Moorpark led by as many as 31 points and avenged a trouncing at home by Canyons last season.

“We came back really poised tonight,” said Nordquist, whose team lost by one-point Saturday night. “We created a lot of problems for them with our guard defense.”